Friday, September 21, 2012

I found you on a field, Mr. Fletcher.

Apart from being an aspiring designer, I have other hobbies and interests; for example, I spend a lot of my time outside of school skateboarding and following soccer. It's interesting to see how design, a frighteningly huge part of my life, sneaks its way into my mind without control. For instance, when I see a skateboard, I often forget completely about the physical act of skateboarding, and rather see it is a form of art, something someone was paid to carefully design and produce for the world to see. When I watch a soccer game, I pay close attention to the attire of the players. Everything is meant to look good. Nearly every product has a logo on it, because a major aspect of sports in general is advertising. The other day I was watching a match between Italian clubs F.C. Internazionale Milano and Torino F.C. I'm not the biggest fan of Inter, but they have always had an awesome kit with blue and black stripes. The way these colors interact with the green grass is really striking. For years now Inter has had a major sponsorship deal with Pirelli Tires (a company founded in Milan), so all the jerseys have the Pirelli logo right on the front. I always thought it was such a cool logo, even though for so long I thought it was "Firelli."

While watching this game, I got sidetracked with this Pirelli logo. I thought it was so simple, yet elegantly bold. I tried to figure out who designed this thing, I had to know. It took a while, but then I found that it was none other than Alan Fletcher, a designer who came up in class a week or two ago when we first started working on our initial logos. I was amazed, because during class when Kelly showed us some examples of well known typographic logos there were a couple that really stood out to me:

I didn't write down the name of the designer who created these logos, not surprising at all, but I rediscovered them when I was looking at other works by Alan Fletcher. He has a great way of working both experimentally powerful and subtly sophisticated. This is something I find most important in design. Sometimes it works to be over-the-top, but for the most part, at least in my opinion, less is more. Alan Fletcher has found a way of creating a name for himself through his work, combining commercial success and creative independence. In this way he has reached out to a wide range of audiences.

This is one of the most appealing aspects of graphic design. It's truly a universal language. Whether the work is print-based or interactive, its ability to reach out to all the world is absolutely remarkable. Successful designers can create a portal through creating symbols. Their names are forever attached to their work and it resonates in many different facets outside of the art community. There's great design all around us, inspiration can be found anywhere...

Sometimes it just sneaks up on you.

For a resourceful look at Alan Fletcher and other great designers, visit the Design Museum.